Fact of the day

Information is the most powerful weapon.

Monday

Fact N°
2019

The earliest automobile design concept incorporated a windmill.

Guido da Vigevano, an Italian inventor in the early 14th century, sketched plans for a wind-powered battle vehicle that da Vigevano intended for use in the Crusades. He also sketched a crank-operated vehicle, similar to a later concept by Francesco di Giorgio, another artist and military engineer who would be the first to use the term "automobile" ("self-moving") to describe the vehicle.

Tuesday

Fact N°
2015

Mexico City is gradually sinking.

Mexico City dates back to the 14th century, when Tenochtitlan was founded by the Aztecs, originally on an island. Much of the gigantic present-day Mexico City is built atop artificial islands and canals, situated over groundwater that provides its water supply. The city sank around 30 feet during the 20th century alone, as evidenced by the base of El Angel, the Angel of Independence statue, to which steps have been continuously added as the ground surrounding the landmark sinks.

Wednesday

Fact N°
2016

The first-ever text message read "Happy Christmas."

Developed as a French-German telecom collaboration in the 1980s, SMS ("Short Message Service") had little initial support on most phones, partially because companies weren't sure what to charge and whether or not messaging should be allowed across subscribers. Neil Papworth, the test engineer who sent the text (alternatively reported as "Happy Christmas" and "Merry Christmas") in 1992, had to type on a PC in a development lab to send the message to a Vodafone colleague's phone.

Thursday

Fact N°
2017

The center of the Milky Way contains the same chemical compound that gives raspberries their taste.

Astronomers searching for evidence of amino acids in space were investigating Sagittarius B -- the molecular cloud near the center of the galaxy -- when they instead discovered ethyl formate, a chemical that smells of rum and is responsible for the taste of raspberries. The astronomers, who were working from the IRAM telescope in the Spanish Sierra Nevada, also discovered the presence of propyl cyanide/butyronitrile (which is, conversely, highly toxic).

Friday

Fact N°
2018

The world's most precise clock is accurate to within a second over 3.7 billion years.

The idea of the atomic clock has been around for over a hundred years, and in practice such clocks have used cesium-133 for the past half-century (accurate to around 2 nanoseconds per day). The NIST physics lab in Boulder, Colorado has recently developed a quantum logic clock that detects the state of an aluminum ion, and is over 30 times as accurate as the cesium clock standard. In practical terms, a more accurate clock could have wide-ranging applications in everything from relativity experiments to the functionality of GPS.

Saturday

Fact N°
2020

Women think professors are the most well-groomed men on campus.

The good people at AXE recently conducted a study with students - both men and women - at six of America's fine colleges and universities, providing the gents with their AXE Shower Gel and AXE Detailer Shower Tool for a week, then querying them on things like confidence, attractiveness and desirability.
One of the more illuminating findings was that 47% of female students believed that it wasn't their peers who put themselves together the best, but their professors, who were followed in rank by members of student government, pre-med students and Ivy leaguers.

Sunday

Fact N°
2021

Most bank robberies occur on Friday mornings.

Investigators reason that bank robbers expect banks to contain more cash on Fridays, as these are typically paydays. The reasoning also follows that banks would likely have more available money in the morning, before many withdrawals have been made (though FBI agent Ken Neu has stressed that this isn't necessarily true).